There are a LOT of broken ankles in the emergency room right now from all the jumping on the bandwagon to include "doors". If you are old enough to remember the early 1990's, the "clear liquid" craze swept the United States. Everything new had to be transparent: "Crystal&quo...
Jump to postBoy, does that ever look like a -62/-72 model? My memories of the stretched DC-8's had that thing longer than a football field! Perspective is everything... Given that Condor was primarily charter in the 1980's (including scheduled charter), I'm going to guess holiday destinations such as Majorca an...
Jump to postWhen you arrive at Frankfurt airport, you can go through customs, get your passport stamped, and then head out to the train station. "Flughafen Frankfurt Fernbahnhof" is the name of the station at the airport (Airport Frankfurt Long-Distance Train Station), whereas downtown will be the &qu...
Jump to postLong story short: does anyone still transfer from Europe at JFK? Ahh, the gold ol' days of American travel to Europe…your travel agent probably booked you on a TWA "GetAway Vacation" package or a similar Pan Am inclusive trip, which included hotels and local transportation, and then depend...
Jump to postAn update to my previous plan: Had to change it as British Airways suffered through their early May schedule meltdown and the airline was completely unwilling to work with us in any way. The new itinerary is: SAN-SEA Delta 737-800 SEA-LHR Virgin Atlantic 787-900 LHR-JFK Virgin Atlantic A350-1000 JFK...
Jump to postQuality of build and design issues aside, what kills many transportation builders' hopes of exporting is the availability of spare parts. How are you going to take care of all those stranded passengers if your plane goes tech on you? The Tu-144 was a vanity project that was rushed through production...
Jump to postUntil September of last year, it was American Airlines. From Bakersfield or LAX or San Diego to Fort Smith, Arkansas via DFW is still the most heavily traveled single route, with DFW-FSM the most in my records. United took over that title on my last SAN-IAH-LIT trip, surpassing it by one. The irony,...
Jump to postProbably one not mentioned often, but it is quite a spectacular approach: Bakersfield, CA (BFL), if you are coming in from the southeast (from PHX or DFW, and usually DEN), you overfly the high desert, including flying over The Great Mojave Boneyard, and then across the Sierra Nevadas / Tehachapi Mo...
Jump to postOnce again, there is no restriction on Americans VISITING Cuba. What Americans are not allowed to do is SPEND MONEY in Cuba. THAT is how the "embargo" works. Americans have, for decades, gotten around this by traveling to a third country, such as The Bahamas or Mexico, purchased everything...
Jump to postUnited's last meal service for coach was, to my knowledge, in 2005. I flew United IAD-SAN and was expecting peanuts, but I got a hot meal. "Flights over XXX hours still get a meal". It was nice, but I knew it wouldn't last...and my next transcon flight on UA was buy on board, which I think...
Jump to postInterlining is not done for cost/complexity reason. You seem to be confusing interlining with code-sharing: the two are not the same. You can have an interline agreement with another carrier and never sell or place your passengers on the other airline’s flight if you so desire. I'm not sure what yo...
Jump to postI believe it is in Southwest's contracts with its workers that "all transportation purchased by Southwest must be completed solely by Southwest planes and crews", or something to that effect. It's been discussed many times as to why Southwest doesn't interline with anyone at all, period. ...
Jump to postI believe it is in Southwest's contracts with its workers that "all transportation purchased by Southwest must be completed solely by Southwest planes and crews", or something to that effect. It's been discussed many times as to why Southwest doesn't interline with anyone at all, period. E...
Jump to postI've chimed in on this issue on a couple of threads, so if you've read this before, skip it. Original ticket purchased in December. LAX-LHR on BA (A380), returning LHR-SAN (777-300). BA canceled the A380, and I called to change the ticket to SAN-LHR. No problem. Lovely people, easy to reach, all tak...
Jump to postQuick story about my experience with British Airways Customer Service: Purchased LAX-LHR / LHR-SAN round-trip tickets. BA canceled the A380 service (reason for LAX instead of SAN). I called British Airways and IMMEDIATELY spoke with a customer service agent who, without any issues whatsoever, chang...
Jump to postWe were literally having these discussions over 20 years ago. There were major problems in 1999. Nothing ever changes. Just bringing in more bad leadership. Agreed. There are now two types of companies on this planet: those run by engineers and managers, and those run by bean counters and "on-...
Jump to postIt has been damage control for too long. With so many delayed programs and deliveries they have too much on their table to do the real future proofing and investments. At the same time Airbus expands. A new strategy would be needed in any case. And MUCH more of a vision for my taste. So where is th...
Jump to postUmmm, NO... I don't understand why BA would refuse to offer any connecting flights on my desired day of travel, even when I came prepared with options. One of the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition HAS to be "never place any obstacles between you and your customer's money". British Airways foll...
Jump to postQuick story about my experience with British Airways Customer Service: Purchased LAX-LHR / LHR-SAN round-trip tickets. BA canceled the A380 service (reason for LAX instead of SAN). I called British Airways and IMMEDIATELY spoke with a customer service agent who, without any issues whatsoever, change...
Jump to postNewark is in the unenviable position of (a) too close to JFK, (b) too close to LGA, (c) too close to too much restricted east coast airspace, and (d) having two runways FAR too close together for parallel usage in inclement weather. And yet, Continental and United both over-scheduled the airport at ...
Jump to postThank you for the thoughtful responses. The intransigence of the airline, coupled with the insane lack of any kind of customer communication, really frightens me. Anytime I have ever had an issue with a flight schedule change, I offer an alternative, and it gets taken care of. Not here. Three days t...
Jump to postI FINALLY got through to British Airways. A lovely woman in India (I had trouble understanding her at times, but she was quite helpful!) answered, and we discussed the situation. I wanted a re-routing on the day I had originally chosen. She said, "the computer says no". No connections ava...
Jump to postI FINALLY got through to British Airways. A lovely woman in India (I had trouble understanding her at times, but she was quite helpful!) answered, and we discussed the situation. I wanted a re-routing on the day I had originally chosen. She said, "the computer says no". No connections avai...
Jump to postSo I just got an e-mail today from British Airways: "your flight to London on Monday, September 19, 2022, has been canceled. We have already booked on the next flight the next day". Has anyone heard if BA is reducing frequency out of SAN? Why else would a flight be canceled so far in adva...
Jump to postSo I just got an e-mail today from British Airways: "your flight to London on Monday, September 19, 2022, has been canceled. We have already booked on the next flight the next day". Has anyone heard if BA is reducing frequency out of SAN? Why else would a flight be canceled so far in advan...
Jump to postSAN-DCA was served until AA switched the route authority to LAX. That ridiculous perimeter rule needs to go away. SAN-BFL would be a godsend, again - the eleven months ExpressJet flew this route saved me time, money, and aggravation! But BFL, being the premium traffic black hole of non-existence tha...
Jump to postI would add that a Latin American carrier is needed to truly round out the offerings from SAN, and we know that the airport folks would definitely agree with that. I could also see a carrier to China, or perhaps at least one other airline to some hub in Asia. (Once the covid recovery opens things u...
Jump to postSo here's another video from me of our British Airways A350-1000 arriving, as seen from Balboa Park:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKHmF5V8IQ0
Just happened to be at the right place at the right time.
LOVE these stories - exactly what I was looking for. Thank you!!
Jump to postAs promised, all employees of all types, from ground crew to front line agents to flight attendants, pilots, mechanics, handlers, etc - all are welcome! Please share your best customer interaction stories - anything that has stayed with you about anything and anyone. Every story is welcome, but I ca...
Jump to postAll airline & airport personnel, I will solicit your stories in a separate poll; however, this one is for passengers only. What is your best cockpit visit and/or aircraft tour story? My best was in late May of 2004. Friends of mine who were living in Chicago had announced they would be moving ba...
Jump to postI like your analysis, PSAatSAN4Ever! I think the comparison to West Berlin is fairly apt. Two factors that I would add would be (1) the fear of homeowners in the coastal regions that their property values would diminish if Miramar was converted to civilian use and aircraft were flying overhead with...
Jump to postAgain, another book I have in storage called "The 727 Story", there is an incident written about a Braniff 727-100 that suffered a nearly catastrophic part failure with a near-complete hydraulic loss; however, the plane made a safe emergency landing without injury. Anyone remember this in...
Jump to postI remember several years ago the city was talking about building a completely new airport inland. Is there any discussion regarding this today? When I look at what Denver did with the old Stapleton, it is an amazing transformation that will be worth $3.4B billion in redevelopment. It would really b...
Jump to postIn my personal airplane log, I have only five 727's: two United 727-100's (BFL-LAX and SBA-BFL), two American 727-200's (LAX-DFW and ORD-LGA), and one Mexicana 727-200 (MLM-LAX). The United and American flights were my first, second, eighth, and twelfth trips ever, occurring between December, 1974 a...
Jump to postI am reminded of a story I read somewhere in one of my aviation books. The story was the investigation of the crash of Avianca 052 near JFK in January, 1990. In the aftermath, the anecdote is told that one investigator went down to Colombia and inquired at Avianca about weighing procedures for lugga...
Jump to postOh, my! My house in North Park just got buzzed by a VERY low-flying airplane, which is HIGHLY unusual... I live in North Park, smack-dab between the eastbound flight track over Mission Valley (to my north) and westbound final descent track for Lindbergh Field (to my south). Lots of helicopters fly o...
Jump to postI flew Edelweiss Air in 2017, on JB-JMG, Zurich to San Diego. I absolutely LOVED the premium economy seating in the front! We're hoping for its return here one day...
thank you for a great report!
For example, Japan Air Lines received this incentive package when it first started the 787 to NRT. JL has AS's FF base in San Diego in addition to its FF base in Japan to support JL SAN-NRT nonstop service. There are also connecting opportunities available through NRT on JL to other Asian destinati...
Jump to postLet's pretend SAN got its second runway. It won't, but this just for the sake of argument. What additional longhaul routes could SAN accommodate with this extra capacity? Before COVID, SAN had three longhaul routes, all daily: BA SAN-LHR: 4 class 772, 77W, or SHJ 744 depending on the season. LH SAN...
Jump to postAlliances are great if you travel frequently and use the rewards, as are an airline's credit cards. Otherwise, no. There are advantages to all this when you live in a hub or focus city, and have the multitude of options; however, if you don't, you're essentially trapped with them. The number of peo...
Jump to postIn the United States: Europe: FRA (LH LAX-FRA-STG) Did you really go to an Alaskan island from Los Angeles via Frankfurt? :lol: Good grief, I did it again...I think my fingers are getting too fat for the keyboard anymore. Like Homer Simpson, gaining extra weight so he can work from home on disabili...
Jump to postAlliances are great if you travel frequently and use the rewards, as are an airline's credit cards. Otherwise, no. There are advantages to all this when you live in a hub or focus city, and have the multitude of options; however, if you don't, you're essentially trapped with them. The number of peop...
Jump to postIn the United States: PDX (AS, SEA-PDX-SAN) SLC (DL, SAN-SLC-MSP roundtrip) SMF (Amtrak + WN) ABQ (Amtrak + United Express) MCI (Original Frontier FSM-Old Fayetteville-Joplin-MCI to TWA MCI-LAX in 1974) STL (TWA LAX-STL-TPA roundtrip) DFW (too many times to mention, but y'all know what AAirline I wa...
Jump to postYou're welcome. However, there have been American customs agents on Mexican soil at Tijuana and Mexican customs agents on US soil at Laredo, Texas. Check out the main picture in this article (in Spanish, don't have to read) from 2016: https://www.chicagotribune.com/hoy/ct-hoy-8536292-agentes-de-eeu...
Jump to postIn the San Diego Aviation thread, there is much discussion about Tijuana airport. It is, in reality, Southern California / the Southwest portion of the United States' southernmost Latin America airport. And while the Tijuana metropolitan area certainly produces SOME traffic on its own, this airport ...
Jump to postThese surprised me!
ORD-DEN, United 777-200
SAN-BOS or BOS-SAN, JetBlue A320/A321
i just booked on the LH flight to MUC for a business trip in June. excited for my first A350 ride and first TATL non stop out of SAN. still never made it on the BA flight. anyone been on the LH flight yet? Not yet, but in 2023. This year, however, my husband and I are going to London on BA 272/273....
Jump to postYes but in Hawaii WN does not have to short hop after short hop. If you do LAX-OGG-HNL-OGG you can land at OGG & in 40 min hop over to HNL. But that short hop does not allow the engine to cool down from the climb out due to temps & very high humidity. So you have to sit for at least an hour...
Jump to postOne time and one time only flights (no connections): Mesa Airlines (America West Express) MSP-PHX in July, 2004. I know, that one surprised me, but there it is! airBerlin SZG-TXL in July, 2017. Edelweiss Air, ZRH-SAN. I would LOVE to take that one off my list and fly them again, but we're waiting fo...
Jump to post